Teacher: Rebekah Moore
Date: October 18, 2011
Unit: The Progressive Era
Lesson Plan Title: Woman’s Suffrage during the Progressive Era

State standards:
  • 8.1.C) Evaluate historical interpretations of events. Understanding multiple points of view.
  • 8.3.12 C) Evaluate how continuity and change has influenced US History from 1890 to Present. Understanding the Women’s Movement and their right to vote

Enduring Understanding: The Progressive Era was a period of reform and empowerment.
Goals for student understanding:
  • Understand the key figures and events of the woman’s suffrage movement during the progressive Era.
  • Understand the root motivations behind the movement.
  • Understand what the American context for the movement was.

Essential Question: As a woman why could equality with men be scary and intimidating?

Lesson:
Pre-assessment: Teacher asks what students remember from last class about the Progressive Era. Students recap out loud to review what they learned allowing teacher to get a sense of what they know.

Teacher lectures 10 to 15 minute lesson on women’s roles before the progressive era and how they changed. Give a short explanation of the key figures, organizations, and events for the next activity.
Teacher assigns different groups main events to research and share with the class using technology (Prezi.com.) present with class. This should not take too much time; it’s just a way of putting the information they find into a presentation. They can use any legitimate sources, but good options are:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/naw/nawshome.html
http://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/progressiveera/introprogressive.html
Students should look for the significance of these, how they contributed to the woman’s suffrage movement and also how they tie back into the larger progressive era.
Topics:
  • National Women’s Party (NWP)
  • NAWSA
  • The 19th Amendment
  • Male support for the women’s suffrage movement
  • Opposition to the women’s suffrage (National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage or NAOWS)

Individually answer essential question in form of newspaper article for audience at the time. Do this after having students brainstorm out loud how the equality would change women’s lives. Why this would be scary. What a women’s life would look like before and after gaining equality. Remember the audience you are writing too at the time. Be sensitive to how they might take what you are saying. You are presenting a new and controversial idea to a diverse audience. This may be homework if there is not enough time.

Assessment: presentations and journals

Special Needs accommodations: have them paired in a group with students that can help them for the group project. They should be able to ask their peers or the teacher for assistance. For the last assignment, they can do a simpler version just reflecting on the question but writing it in a regular essay form or just bullet point ideas depending on their writing level and ability.